Intimate Portraits of Parisians Through Windows By Gail Halaban

Gail Albert Halaban gives voyeurism a good name. A self-proclaimed “window watcher”, Halaban first created a voyeuristic photo project to display ordinary domestic spaces inhabited by average people juxtaposed against the hectic cityscape of New York City. This caught the eye of Cathy Remy, photo editor for Le Monde’s M magazine, which led Halaban to bring her gig to Paris. Although at first, the concept might come across as creepy, the people photographed by Gail had provided prior permission, but were, for the most part, unaware of what time she would take the pictures, which is why the end product is still candid and realistic. The process of creating these compelling portraits was about the same as in New York – Gail and Cathy reached out to people via social media to find volunteers who would crack their windows open to this project. While the reactions they received were polarizing, they did mange to successfully crowd source the project. Taken across numerous neighbourhoods, the moments captured are both intimate and mundane - a woman emerging from the shower, a girl practising her clarinet, a couple at lunch, among others.